The city of Daytona Beach will always be known for their world-famous waters.

Lately, local businesses downtown are witnessing new growth, with large projects underway. It's exciting news for business owners like Camille Holder-Brown.

Holder-Brown has owned a business in downtown Daytona Beach for eight years now.

“We do Caribbean vegan food,” she explained.

Her roots are in Jamaica, and she has traveled all across the country. But Daytona is where she grew up, and this is her home.

It’s where she and her family run Kale Cafe on Beach Street.

Now when she takes a look around, the growth is evident.

“It’s super-duper exciting,” Holder-Brown said. “So much so that we invested in a property. We purchased the building on the corner.”

The transformation downtown starts directly across the street from her business.

Currently, a riverfront park is under construction. It is set to open within the next few months.

Property has been also designated for new apartments, and extra parking has already been put into place along the street,

For Holden-Brown, that’s a good sign that more foot traffic is on the way.

“We don’t like having vacant places. We want all these stores to be filled, and we want to see people walking up and down. Not just when there’s art festivals, but like all the time.”

Her business started off selling smoothies at the local farmers market.

Now she’s teaching her community about healthy food options.

So if you ask her about the current growth, she might just tell you that anything is possible and that the future is bright.

“It’s like I’m really vested in this community,” she said.” 

“I left for college, I went to school in Miami and DC, and I lived in New York for eight years after that. Started a family ... but I wanted to come back and raise my children in Daytona Beach.”